Inside the Phillies with MLB.com beat writer Todd Zolecki

You Miss Jayson Werth

Charlie Manuel is looking forward to trash-talking Jayson Werth today at Nationals Park. I’m sure a few Phillies fans are, too. But I’m sure a few more will cheer him when they invade Washington this week for a three-game series against the Nationals.

Werth played a big part in resurrecting the franchise.

Everybody knows Werth left the Phillies in December to sign a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Nationals. The Phillies offered him a guaranteed $48 million, which would have jumped to $60 million if they exercised a 2014 option. Some people seem offended Werth signed with Washington. Numerous fans have asked me, “What’s the difference when you’re talking about that much money?”

My answer is always the same: The difference is $78 million.

If somebody offered me $126 million and somebody else offered me $48 million, 10 times out of 10 I’m taking the $126 million. Why? Because the difference is $78 million. Maybe you think that makes me greedy. I just think that makes me honest. If we’re really being honest, the Phillies needed to offer Cliff Lee $120 million to return to Philadelphia. If they had offered him $100 million he would be in New York or Texas right now. Lee deserved every penny he got. He shouldn’t have accepted less. Yes, he took less money to return to Philadelphia, but he didn’t take $78 million less. The Yankees reportedly offered him a guaranteed $148 million, or $28 million more than the Phillies.

The Phillies had to get into Lee’s ballpark to bring him back. The Phillies never got into Werth’s ballpark, so it’s impossible to blame him for taking the much, much better deal.

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The good news for the Phillies is Ben Francisco has played well in right field through the season’s first nine games. But there is no question Werth did an excellent job as an everyday player from late 2008 through last season. Here are the reasons why you miss Werth:

He had an .889 OPS from 2008-10, which ranked 23rd out of 182 players in the big leagues.

87 home runs (14th).

.513 SLG (21st).

277 runs (21st).

.376 OBP (24th).

181 extra-base hits (26th).

34 game-winning RBIs (27th).

53 stolen bases (34th)

4.46 pitchers per plate appearances (1st).

25 assists (6th among rightfielders).

.989 fielding percentage (6th)

.875 zone rating (8th)

I know one big knock is he hit terribly with runners in scoring position last season. No argument there. Werth hit .282/.380/.506 overall in his four-year career with the Phillies. He hit a horrific .150/.335/.274 SLG with RISP from Apri 5 – Sept 4. last season.

Ouch. But he hit .298/.418/.508 with RISP from 2007-09, and .333/.438 OBP/.481 SLG with RISP from Sept. 5 through the end of the regular season. I think his resurgence with RISP in the last month of last season coincided with him hiring Scott Boras as his agent. I think Werth stressed out the first five months, and he finally relaxed once he knew Boras would take care of him.

Boo him or cheer him this week? If you boo, boo him because he plays for a division rival, not because he took a monster deal.

You know you would have done the same.

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Update: Getting some great feedback on this. Many fans say they are more upset Werth has taken a few digs at the Phillies since he left, saying the Phillies are getting old, etc. True, true. But I’ve gotten enough how-could-he-take-the-money e-mails that I felt compelled to say, “Really?!?!”

If anyone says they wouldn’t have gone to Washington for $78 million more, they are straight up liars. Is he going to play in the postseason ever again? Maybe not. But are he, his wife, his kids, his grandkids, his greatgrandkids, his greatgreatgrandkids and so on set for life? Absolutely.

And they (his kids etc.) wouldn’t have been if he took 48 mil? From where i’m sitting that sounds like more than enough to keep you going for a while. Plus the difference per year on the contract isn’t that much, 15 mil per year is what the phillies offered, 18 is what he got….As a sportsman, you want to be on the best teams, and win right? I really hope the Nats get somewhere in the next 7 years, for Jaysons sake, or else he will have a lousy time there, with a few millions extra to look at on his bank account. And yes i do miss Jayson Werth….Look up his stats for the 2008 World Series, and you’ll know why :-)

You have no idea what Jayson will do with the money. The Nationals were certain to spend it on baseball. It was either going to Jayson, or some other ballplayer. I’d rather see Jayson get it. Who knows? He loves Philly. Maybe he’ll setup some charities or something.

Speak for yourself, Zolecki. There is more to it than just arithmetic. The grab all there is for me mindset is what IMO is sending this country into a tailspin. Werth and Boras are just a small indicator.

At first, when Jayson took the monster check, I was a little hurt, but it was a check no one could refuse. I let him go, grateful for what he did for us. However, when he called RAJ a dumbass, and said he hated the Phillies, he crossed the line. Jayson Werth means nothing to me anymore. I will be booing him because he’s a jackass, and what he said was completely uncalled for.

I will not be in DC, but I will be in CBP when the Nats arrive. Regardless, I will not boo Jayson. He helped make the Phils a winning team. I do not blame him for taking the $$$. Trust me, I would have! I hope he helps them be more competitive. Granted, they are usually a thorn in the Phillies’ sides, but Zimmerman is on the DL so I don’t know what they’ll bring. GO PHILS!!!

Deb, I’ll probably cheer him when they introduce the lineups, and maybe even on his first at-bat. After that, all bets are off. He’s a Nat now.
And it really cracks me up to read some folks here saying they would take 48 million over 126 million. The only person you are kidding is yourself.

@civil negligence. And I suppose that ones great grandkids being set for life is necessarily good? While it may make Werth feel good about himself my view is that being “set for life” removes all motivation and drive to become better.
And don’t presume to know my mindset or decide for me that I am a bald faced liar. Those are your values, not mine.

I’m one of the many that doesn’t blame him for taking the money. Not even a little bit, but he has been whining and complaining since he got to DC. He has taken constant shots at the Phillies and that annoys me like non-other. I really just want to yell at him that he took the money and he has to deal with it. Why can’t he just say that he enjoyed his time in Philly, but now he has moved on and let that be the end of it?

Jayson Werth has a World Series ring, a 2009 NL championship ring and an All Star game appearance. As a player he has accomplished a great deal. It was time for him to take advantage of free agency and take care of his future. The Phillies weren’t going to come up big with an offer. Even before Cliff Lee was in the picture the Phillies management was saying its tough to have $15 million a year players at every position. Statements like that and Dominic Brown on the horizon should have been enough handwriting on the wall for fans to see that Werth wasn’t coming back. Once Lee was back in the fold there was no way the Phillies could compete with other team’s over the top offers. The bottom line is that baseball is a business and the Phils chose to invest in pitching while Werth chose the top offer with an outside chance of competing for a World Series in 3 years or so. Phillies fans don’t take it personally…it’s just business.

Werth helped the Phillies to a World Series and was given the opportunity to make a lot of money. Be thankful for his contribution here and happy for him and his family. The goal in professional sports is 1. to win a title (check/Phils) and 2. make the best possible living for yourself (check/Nats).

He played hard here and helped bring a World Series to Philly for the first time in a long time. For those reasons I’m willing to excuse a few things he said in the offseason about his new division rival. He was frustrated the Phils couldn’t afford him. I take it as a compliment.

I wouldn’t boo Jayson at all, and you can’t argue with his performance betweent he foul lines. He certainly wasn’t fan-friendly, though. Working the rope line at photo day, he couldn’t get through fast enough. So what? He’s a private person. Next year Ryan Madson’s going to leave for more money and a chance to be a closer. Are we going to boo Ryan? We shouldn’t.

I love(d) Jayson Werth for a long time. He was one of my favorite players. I won’t boo him, but I have lost a lot of respect for him since he left the Phils. Granted he has moved on to a division rival so its important for him to show his loyalty to that team, but he should show it by playing as well for them as can, not by talking smack on the team that helped him become a superstar and gave him a World Series ring.

You GOTTA to be kidding me, right? I expect that the Phillies fans WILL go down to Washington, but to boo his arse down there! They came down there last year and filled the stands but for the Phils and not the Nats. If a player (fave or not) decides he doesn’t want to be with us anymore and is a butt hole, then he becomes an enemy. Jayson is now the enemy and trust me, he WILL BE booed and if not. There is something wrong with the Philly Phaithful. We are doing as well or better without that bum!

I don’t blame Jayson for leaving. He can do as he pleases. But to say the things he’s said since is just ridiculous. As I recall he was a broken down mediocre outfielder coming off multiple injuries. The Phillies turned him into a star.
He also started pissing me off while still in town last year. He was half-asssing it a lot of the time. Not tagging up, taking strange routes to fly balls and of course hitting with risp.

“If somebody offered me $126 million and somebody else offered me $48 million, 10 times out of 10 I’m taking the $126 million. Why? Because the difference is $78 million. Maybe you think that makes me greedy. I just think that makes me honest.”

But if somebody offered me $48 million and I would be happy winning for the rest of my career, or $126 million and forever be a loser, I think I could get by on the $48 mil. There’s more to it than just the money, even $78 million. And that is my honest take on it.

It’s only a $2m per year differance over the 1st 3 years. Guaranteed $48M or $16M per year VS. $126M over 7 years ($18M per) if they keep him that long.
Without a big power hitter in front of him he wont last there 2 full years.

There’s no way that Werth is going to get another contract that’s going to pay him that much after a 4-year deal. He’ll be older, his production will decrease, his speed will drop.

He will never get more money than this over the next 7 years. Maybe he only nets $2M/year less for the first 4, but then he probably drops another $5-6M in the 2 years following, and another $8M the year after that. Over the life of the contract, that’s a lot of money left on the table.

Who care about the $$. He took a chance to have a life after baseball. But he is, one a rival and talks a lot of trash about a team that gave him the chance to get that huge payoff, deserved or not. Ill boo him because of those reasons, not the $$. Get Charlie, talk trash for all of us!!!

Boy, we have short memories in this town. It wasn’t that long ago we were in the Nats position, having to try to sign people to come here. We weren’t a winning team, so we got them to come here with….cash, and a good amount of it. (And cycles being what they are, it will be that way again someday.) So the notion that some things are more important–i.e., being on a winning team–doesn’t hold up in all cases. Perhaps the combination of money and a chance to try to be part of a team on the way up (having already achieved the ultimate goal here in Philly) was what made his decision easy to make. All of us are motivated by different things; that doesn’t mean we’re disloyal, it just means we take stock of our situations and do what we feel is best for our needs, not applying it to someone else’s value system.

We all know that someone with an ounce of common sense on the money front would have been “fine” with what the Phils offered, but, again, it misses the point. Any of us who would take a higher paying job when presented with two offers is talking out of both sides of the mouth to blame Werth for his decision. Setting up his family for life is his business, if that’s what he wants to do, just as leaving behind what little I can for my kids or grandkids is. Fine, his descendants will get far more; such is life. He may also see the opportunity to take some of that extra cash and do lots of good in the community with it. (And if he doesn’t, so be it)

He didn’t do anything wrong; he did what was best for him. A little trash talking is fun, but taking it to the levels of somehow being offended? Why?

I’ll boo him because he didn’t thank Philadelphia for giving him a career. When we signed him, he was a washed up 4th outfielder with the Dodgers, who didn’t even think of him enough to tender him an offer. Charlie gave him the chance to play everyday. He didn’t get a real chance in Baltimore or in Los Angeles…so he owes the franchise more than he thinks he does.

If you break it down by year – the phillies only offered him $2 mil less per year. I’d take that to be on a winning team and review my options in 2014 rather than taking 2 mil more per year and be saddled with a losing team for 7. He made the wrong decision – point blank.

I would boo him… he took the money, thats fine. He is so overpaid its pathetic, but this the monster that is created by owners. If he hadn’t bashed Philly maybe i would feel differently. But, he came here as a “bench” player & was given a chance to play every day. A chance he may not have had someplace else. He should the money & a championship and savor it, he wont win another.

I don’t blaim Jayson one bit for taking the money, and the comments he made were taken pretty far out of context and blown out of proportion.

I’m happy J-Dub got obscenely overpaid. I’m also happy that Francisco is getting his chance to become the NEXT Jayson Werth here in Philadelphia. Werth has a ring, and now he’s paid. Good for him.

I’ll stand and cheer when he’s announced if I attend his first game back at the bank. I’ll never forget him cranking that huge HR in the series against the Rays, and coming around first “Cadillacing” and pointing into the crowd…great moment.

jayson werth did a good job for the phils, and i was sad to see him go… saying that, once you start talking smack on a team who did so much for you, and embraced you as a player, you’re asking to be booed. i hope we hear the phillies fans booing him, just to show that you can be our best friend, or our worst enemy. i’d choose taking championships over the money.who cares about the money if you’re not going places with it.

once you turn your back on the phillies, you deserve to be booed.
so long jayson, phillies will go far without you.

To those who say it was “only” $3 million/year difference, the years DO matter. Werth would have been 34 years old by the time a 3 year deal would have ended. He would not been able to get $15 mill/year at that age, especially not for four more years.

For those upset by his comments about “hating” the Phillies, I think this was in jest and blown out of proportion. If you read Werth’s comments in Todd’s post, I think it’s pretty clear Werth really enjoyed his time in Philly and still keeps in touch with his former teammates.

In DC feel free to boo him this series, first game back at the Bank he should be applauded on introduction and from there all bets are off, as a rival. I hold no ill will towards him for taking the money, hold no ill will towards Phils for letting him go, and especially none towards Nats for stealing him away. They had to pay a decent free agent mega money so that they can say we have Strasburg, Harper and compant and now Werth too. They had to do something to appear like a destination. Far as some of the things that Werth has said after he left, there certainly was a better way to do it, if I were a Nationals fan (are there any?) I would be a little offended by some of his comments after signed. He shouldn’t be the face of any franchise.

You can live perfectly comfortably for the rest of your life with 60 million dollars, never having to work a day in your life again. You can also do that same exact thing with 126 million dollars. The difference is whether you do the right thing and stay loyal to the team and city that made you who you were. Werth chose poorly.

What did Werth do that justifies this great emotional bond that some of you seem to think he has? He wasn’t the face of the franchise, didn’t say all that much and generally stood in the background (from a P.R. standpoint) during his time here. Sure, he was part of the championship team, but a lot of guys were.

And for those of you who begrudge him the money, you’re a bunch of hypocrites. You’d take every nickel you could get, regardless of where you worked. Would you honestly turn down 3 times your salary to work for a less successful company – guaranteed money as well. Get off your pompous high horse.

I would do just what he did…..take the $$$ and run. I always thought it was interesting in his time here that you didn’t hear much from him from a PR standpoint. You’d see RAUUL, Howard, Rollins, Victorino, Madson, Hamels, Charlie and others. Personally he wasn’t one of my favorites (however he was great RF).

Yes, almost anyone would have taken the money. What was annoying is that after he took the much bigger deal he acted like he was a jilted lover, whining about Cliff and taking other digs at his old team (who, let it not be forgotten, picked him off the trash pile a few years ago and gave him the chance that he took great advantage of). He has generally acted like the most unhappy hundred-millionaire in the world.

Guy was a huge part of the team. His public speaking skills are lacking and they pretty much always have been. Now they just stick out more because he has turned into the face of the Nats because of his hefty paycheck. I’ll always respect him for what he did while he was here and picking his career up off the mat after the wrist injury. He has talent pouring out of his ears.

I honestly don’t miss Werth at all. I thoroughly enjoy the current composition of this team and I’m intrigued by the new challenges the lineup faces and creates in each game. I’m more interested to see how Francisco can perform as a full-time starter, how the rotation performs over 162 games, how the bench can continue to make an impact, and how Bastardo progresses in the bullpen (I’ve no concerns whatsoever about Madson, Romero, and Contreras). Maybe I’m crazy.

hmmmmm…. are you gonna tell me any person is werth 18 million dollars or more per year to “play a game???” well… keep paying through the nose for a ticket…. $9 for a beer…. $3 for a hot dog…. $4 for a bottle of water…. maybe next contract he will demand $25 mil per year while you spend foolish amounts of money (that many can no longer afford) to support their greed. who are the “stupid” ones here??? IT’S A GAME for cryin out loud!!!

We’ve already seen mental lapses out of Francisco and errors in his fundamentals. Hopefully these things will disappear as his games played goes up but everyone that thinks the firs 9 games is enough to say Werth was dogmeat is just fooling themselves.

Zo…..”how-could-he-take-the-money e-mails that I felt compelled to say, “Really?!?!”” Yes. Really! Who really needs $120+ mil.??? And maybe, if it was another team other than the Nats, I’d give him a pass. But, Jayson…Really?! He should take a page from the Cliff Lee, integrity in baseball, book.

Let’s forget Werth and his paycheck. Also get used to not seeing Francisco in RF making errors, banging into the wall, and injuring Shane, because in a couple of weeks Brown will be the right fielder for years to come. It will be exciting to watch him become one of the best ballplayers in the game.
If I had my way, Mayberry would be in LF. What more does this guy need to do ? We need the RH bat. He’s a clutch hitter with power and and a super BA so far. Ibanez can only go one direction at his age. No platooning for Brown or Mayberry.
Lets make the changes while we have the great starting pitching for cover. Francisco is a good utility outfielder.

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